Goodbye
by Caterpillar
Summary: A doomed long-distance romance that tells the story of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace from a different point of view. Villiers says goodbye to his girlfriend, Strawberry Fields, when she takes a job in Bolivia.
1. Chapter 1

The two young lovers were making quite a scene in the airport, running their hands all over each other as they kissed, until the tall, dark-haired man pinched the redhead's butt. She squeaked in surprise, then giggled. "David! Oh, you're horrible!"

"Come on, Fields," he said. "You'll miss your flight."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she asked, wrapping his arms around his waist and trying to make him trip as they walked to security. David did always look so nice, now that he had to be ready to work at a moment's notice. He'd gone off and found a government job while she finished school. Just as they thought they'd be together after she graduated, she'd gotten that job in Bolivia. The last few weeks had been hard for them as she prepared to leave. The short time they had together had been made even harder by David's boss, who called at all hours of the day and night. Speaking of...

He groaned as his cell phone buzzed in his pants pocket. "I told her I was taking some time off," David said as he fumbled with the phone and sent the call to voicemail. After a short pause, it beeped angrily at him.

"I'm calling you as soon as I get there," Fields told him. "If she can call you at two in the morning, so can I. You answer your phone in your sleep."

"Mmm." He stole a quick kiss from her. "I'll have to make sure I check my caller ID before I answer with 'Sex God for Hire,' won't I?" he asked, which set off another round of giggles.

"I'll be back as soon as I can get the time off," she told him as they reached security. David helped her hoist her carry-on to her shoulder. Even with two months of preparation, saying goodbye was still difficult.

"Take care, Berry."

They shared a last kiss. Strawberry waved at him as she passed through the metal detectors, and then she was out of sight. His cell phone buzzed again, and reluctantly he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Villiers. Yes Ma'am. The Prime Minister? Yes Ma'am. I'm on my way. Good--" M had hung up on him. He sighed, threw on his overcoat, and went to find a taxi.


	2. Chapter 2

The phone rang at 3 am, waking Villiers from a deep sleep. "Mmmhuh?" he answered his pillow, before rings two and three woke him up enough to flip the phone open. "What?" he asked.

"Goodness, David, if I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't want to talk to me," the voice at the other end teased.

"Fields!" He was wide awake now. "Did you get in okay?"

"I just got to my hotel," she said. "What a layover! I thought I'd never make it. I'm so sorry for waking you up, but I did promise."

He'd fallen asleep with his cell phone in hand, waiting for her to call. "I won't hold it against you," David said in mock-seriousness.

"Oh, good, because then I'd have to dump you. Anyway, I'm only two blocks from the Consulate, so I can walk to work tomorrow. I'm so nervous. Wish me luck, David, and then I'll be okay."

"Good luck, Fields," he said.

"Thank you. Now, I'd better let you go back to bed. I promise I won't do this often. Or too often. Good night!"

"Good night," he said, and closed the phone. Villiers set it on the nightstand and rolled over to get to sleep, but before he could drift off, the phone beeped to let him know he had a text. He found a picture of Fields making a funny face.

_Sweet dreams! xoxo your Berry_

The next morning he overslept and made it into the office only 55 minutes earlier than he was supposed to, instead of his customary hour. To his dismay, the door to M's office was open, and light poured out of the crack. She must have something on her mind to be in so early. Villiers made sure to make enough noise to alert her to his presence, but when she didn't call him in, he went on with his morning duties of compiling reports that had come in overnight.

Right on the hour M called him in for the morning's briefing. "You look like hell," she said bluntly as he slid the reports across her desk. His eyes were bleary from the early wake-up call.

"I didn't sleep well," he said, but M had already moved on to the task at hand.

Villiers briefed her on the actions of the agents in her section, ending with the activities of agents 005 and 006. The numbers 001 through 004 had already been retired, in a manner of speaking. M nodded, then handed him the paperwork she'd been reading when he arrived.

"Bond's been promoted. See that the paperwork is completed, then call him in. I want him here today."

He went back to his desk. Getting someone in "today" could mean anything from calling for a car to come and pick them up, to arranging for charter planes on zero notice. First he'd do the paperwork, then find out where Bond was hiding out at the moment. Logging into the system, Villiers went through the motions to get the job done.

_James Bond - 007 status confirmed_


	3. Chapter 3

With fast fingers and a few phone calls, Villiers could have Bond out of Prague in under the hour. A flight was leaving for London in three hours, and Villiers got the agent a seat on the plane. For a second, he debated calling Bond and telling him to hire a taxi to the airport. Based on previous experience, Villiers strongly suspected that Bond would somehow translate this to "steal yourself a sports car and get to the airport." A hired car would probably be cheaper in the long run. The question was, where to send it?

There were less frustrating ways to get that information than asking Bond directly. Villiers ran a trace on Bond's government-issued credit card. The last two purchases made on the card were a reservation at the Hotel Prague Castle, and room service for the same. Villiers rolled his eyes. It must be nice to have unlimited expenses while on the job. He sighed and looked up the number for the closest chauffeur service to the hotel he could find.

Now for the dreaded phone call. After two rings he was greeted with a curt, "What?"

"I have orders from M," Villiers said without pleasantries. "You're coming back. A car will be there in fifteen minutes to get you."

There was a pause on the other end, and in the background he could hear a female voice say, "James, come back to bed. The air is cold and the sheets are warm."

Oh, God. "Is that going to be a problem?" Villiers asked.

"No," Bond said finally. "I'll be ready," and with that he hung up.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, as far as his mornings at MI6 went. Bond arrived before lunch and was ushered into M's office, and with Villier's two biggest headaches occupied, he took his lunch at his desk and caught up on his personal business. It was 8 AM in La Paz. He sent Fields a good-luck text, hoping to catch her before she left for work.

He was surprised by his phone ringing a few minutes later. "I was just thinking about you," Fields said.

"Oh?" he asked. "Why's that?"

"I'm not wearing any clothes right now."

David nearly choked. "Should I be flattered?"

"You should be," she said. "I was thinking about how much I miss you, when I've got this room all to myself. Then I was thinking about what we'd do in this room, and I got a little carried away. I have to say, you were quite impressive."

He thought about cold showers, M in her underwear, anything to keep his mind from going down the path Strawberry had laid out before it. "You'll have to tell me about it when I'm not at work," he said.

"I will. If I started now, I'd be late for work by the time I was done," she said. "Love you, David." They rang off.

He'd finished his sandwich by the time M's door opened and Bond left with a new assignment. M stood looking out a window with her back to Villiers as she gave her instructions. "Make sure Bond's up to date on our explosive friends in Madagascar, then get him to Antananarivo," she said. As a second thought, she added, "Get Carter in on this, as well. It's time he got some experience under his belt."

She turned away from the window. "You look much more awake," she said. "Don't tell me you have an espresso machine stashed in that desk."

"No, ma'am. Just a refreshing lunch break."


End file.
